Techniques for facilitating electrical design of an energy generation system

Abstract

Systems and methods for facilitating the electrical design of an energy generation system. In one embodiment, a method is provided that can comprise receiving, by a computer system from a user, first information pertaining to an energy generation system to be installed at a customer site. The method can further comprise determining an electrical design for installing the energy generation system at the customer site, where the determining is based on the first information, second information retrieved from one or more external data sources, an electrical data model, and a decision tree that models the electrical design process. An installation diagram can then be generated that illustrates the determined electrical design.

1 .- 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A method comprising:
 receiving, by a computer system from a user, information pertaining to a solar photovoltaic (PV) energy generation system;   determining, by the computer system, a list of PV inverters compatible with the information;   determining, by the computer system, a first set of electrical components compatible with each inverter of the list of PV inverters by utilizing a first portion of a decision process comprising a first series of interrelated queries organized in a logical flow and specific to determining the first set of electrical components;   determining, by the computer system, a second set of electrical components compatible with each inverter of the list of PV inverters by utilizing a second portion of the decision process comprising a second series of interrelated queries organized in a logical flow and specific to determining the second set of electrical components;   determining, by the computer system, electrical designs for each PV inverter comprising the corresponding first and second set of electrical components; and   generating, by the computer system, an installation diagram illustrating at least one of the determined electrical designs.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21  wherein the first set of electric components comprise one or more direct current (DC) components. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21  wherein the second set of electric components comprise one or more alternating current (AC) components. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 21  wherein the information includes PV information pertaining to PV module strings. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 21  wherein a portion of the information is populated with defaults received from one or more external data sources. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25  wherein the one or more external data sources are selected from a group consisting of:
 an Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) database, a utility database, a state database, and a component supply chain database. 
 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 21  wherein the first and second series of interrelated queries determine how the first and second set of electrical components should be interconnected. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 21  wherein determining the electrical designs for each PV inverter is based on the first and second set of electric components, and an electrical data model. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 28  wherein the electrical data model comprises a plurality of rules indicating how electrical components of the energy generation system may be interconnected, the plurality of rules conforming to the National Electric Code (NEC). 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 21  wherein determining the electrical designs for each PV inverter comprises traversing nodes of a decision tree, each node representing a decision or a decision outcome. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 30  wherein the method further comprises, for a given node of the decision tree representing a decision:
 determining whether the decision can be automatically determined by the computer system based on the information; and 
 when the question cannot be automatically determined based on the information, prompting the user for an answer. 
 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 21  wherein the installation diagram includes a bill of materials. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 32  wherein the bill of materials identifies make and model numbers for each electrical component of the energy generation system. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 33  wherein the bill of materials further identifies sizes of wires needed to interconnect the electrical components. 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 21  further comprising outputting the installation diagram to the user. 
     
     
         36 . A system comprising:
 a processor configured to:
 receive, by a computer system from a user, information pertaining to a solar photovoltaic (PV) energy generation system; 
 determine, by the computer system, a list of PV inverters compatible with the information; 
 determine, by the computer system, a first set of electrical components compatible with each inverter of the list of PV inverters by utilizing a first portion of a decision process comprising a first series of interrelated queries organized in a logical flow and specific to determining the first set of electrical components; 
 determine, by the computer system, a second set of electrical components compatible with each inverter of the list of PV inverters by utilizing a second portion of the decision process comprising a second series of interrelated queries organized in a logical flow and specific to determining the second set of electrical components; 
 determine, by the computer system, electrical designs for each PV inverter comprising the corresponding first and second set of electrical components; and 
 generate, by the computer system, an installation diagram illustrating at least one of the determined electrical designs. 
   
     
     
         37 . The system of  claim 36  wherein the processor is further configured to output the installation diagram to the user. 
     
     
         38 . A method comprising:
 determining, by a computer system, a set of direct current (DC) components compatible with an inverter by utilizing a first portion of a decision process comprising a first series of interrelated queries organized in a logical flow and specific to determining the set of DC components;   determining, by the computer system, a set of alternating current (AC) components compatible with the inverter by utilizing a second portion of the decision process comprising a second series of interrelated queries organized in a logical flow and specific to determining the set of AC components;   determining, by the computer system, electrical designs for the inverter comprising the corresponding set of AC components and set of DC components; and   generating, by the computer system, an installation diagram illustrating at least one of the determined electrical designs.   
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 38  wherein determining the electrical designs for each PV inverter is based on the first and second set of electric components, and an electrical data model. 
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 39  wherein the electrical data model comprises a plurality of rules indicating how electrical components of the energy generation system may be interconnected, the plurality of rules conforming to the National Electric Code (NEC).